From now on, Inspector Julia Shipp no ​​longer has speed limits

Julia Shipp’s only appearance in Sölden so far has been unintentionally brief – in 2018, the 20-year-old young talent made the transition before the high stakes were punished with bitter failure. “I haven’t seen that much slope yet,” Shoaib jokes now. The years that followed were mainly marked by setbacks. In 2019, illness prevented her from participating in the opening match of the World Cup, and as a result she was unable to do anything due to problems with her knee.

A story of unparalleled suffering in the Alpine Skiing World Cup. Frauentaler’s talent was always undisputed, but she was able to show it very rarely due to her bad luck with injuries. The 25-year-old went back two years, four surgeries, rehabilitation training and “a hole or two that I fell into,” as she explained at the time. In November of the previous year she returned to skiing for the first time and a few weeks later achieved her best World Cup results in the giant slalom with 11th, 12th and 13th places. “Looking back, I got the most out of it at the time. I had almost no preparation at the time and that’s very difficult, especially in our sport.

Painless and without aches and pains

This is also the biggest difference compared to next winter. Shoaib was able to complete the entire preparations in the summer – pain-free and without aches and pains. I really enjoyed that. It’s completely different when you’re skating, you can handle things well and have more fun when you don’t always have to think about your knee.” In addition to the fitness training, the final stage of police training was also coming up in Salzburg, where they completed practice. needed to train as a police inspector in her native Deutschlandsberg. “I see myself still being a racing driver for the next few years, but it’s definitely a very exciting job.”

Racing victory as a goal

A return to Rettenbachferner will be exciting for them as well. Shoaib is one of the best players in the ÖSV team, has the ability to pull off a major upset and, for the first time, has his legs fully prepared. Can Austrian skiing enthusiasts dream? “The goal, of course, is to win races, that’s clear. What is much more important at the moment is that I can also put my strong training performance into practice in the race. On Saturday we will see enough.” As the season progresses, Shoaib wants to devote more and more time to Super-G and thus he can also participate in one or two European Cup races.

The focus is entirely on the sport, even if Styria is aware of the climate protection controversy surrounding the start of the World Cup. She understands that too: “In every sport you have to question things and improve, especially when it comes to such an important topic. But I’m completely focused on my own affairs, and other people can take care of the rest. But I don’t think it’s okay for us to just be the bad guys.